Law's Fate May Hinge on Vatican Meeting

Cardinal Bernard Law's fate as leader of his Boston flock may be in the hands of Pope John Paul II as the two men meet Friday to discuss Law's troubled diocese and, possibly, his stepping down.

Abuse victims, lay members and even some priests have intensified their calls for Law to resign after 18 years at the helm of the Boston archdiocese as more cases of sordid conduct by priests unfolded from the release of church files.

Law has been at the Vatican all week, but he has kept out of the public's eye since being spotted by a reporter at a Rome restaurant Sunday evening.

The cardinal slipped quietly away from Boston to begin a round of meetings with top officials at the Vatican over his and his archdiocese's fate.

Law is accused of having shuffled around from parish to parish priests who were accused, often repeatedly, of sexually abusing minors.

Recent days have been marked by some of the most shocking revelations in the year-old scandal in Boston with the release of thousands of pages of the archdiocese's personnel files.

On Thursday, it appeared that Law could also be facing questions from a grand jury about his supervision of priests accused of sexually abusing minors.

Victims have accused Law of being more mindful of his personal reputation that honestly dealing with the scandal, and now dozens of priests under his command are demanding he step down.

The Vatican may also be deciding whether the archdiocese, facing enormous payments in settlements with sex abuse victims, should declare bankruptcy to protect itself from creditors.

After at least one unconfirmed report Thursday evening that Law had offered to quit, Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls stressed that Law could not tender his resignation before seeing the pope on Friday.

Whenever a bishop offers to step down, for age, illness or other problems, it is up to the pope to accept the offer or to ask the churchman to stay on, as the pontiff did back in April when Law also journeyed to Rome to seek out John Paul's guidance.

After Law, now 71, returned in the spring from his meeting with the pontiff, he said he was "encouraged" in his efforts to provide "the strongest possible leadership" in ensuring no child is ever abused again by a priest in his archdiocese.

But in the eight months that have ensued, the scandal worsened, with some of the most shocking revelations coming in recent days.

In recent years, sex abuse scandals have engulfed dioceses across the United States, as well as in Ireland, France and the pope's native Poland.

But Boston has been at the epicenter of the scandals rocking the Church, because of the archdiocese's centuries-old prestige and Law's insistence that he stay at the helm.

Last month, Law, in an apology delivered during Mass in Boston's Cathedral, acknowledged his responsibility for decisions that "led to intense suffering."